There is an idiom: "All good things must come to an end." It is said when you accept that even enjoyable experiences cannot last forever. Don't get me wrong, there are things that are eternal. I believe in them. However, when it comes to a vacation, the phrase applies. We arose Saturday, September 20th, to begin that long journey back to our little spot on this planet.
We had to be out of our room by 8am. You see, there are a LOT of staterooms and each must be cleaned and readied for those next set of cruise guests who will arrived at noon or shortly thereafter. We were dressed and out of our room by 7:45am. Breakfast was eaten in Surfside Cafe one last time. Then we made our way to the Belvedere Lounge to await our announcement to disembark. Each group is assigned a color. Our color was gray. These were all the guests needed coach transportation back to the Grand Hyatt. The Belvedere Lounge is where we waited that very crowded morning we needed a tender to get to Santorini. It is right outside of the Commodore Cafe. Fortunately, it was not nearly as busy today as it was before.
Gray was called and we walked down two flights of stairs to the 4th deck when you disembark from the ship. One last time to use the sail card. Out to the large room on the port where our luggage was to be waiting for us. We found one suitcase but could not find the other. The luggage was placed in lines by your group color. Claude started searching the other colors to see if it was misplaced. I found someone to tell them we could not find one of our suitcases. I believe I told this sweet lady about 5 times it was a twin to the suitcase we found. The only difference was that a zipper on a front pocket came off on this trip. Claude finally located our second suitcase and we were off.
The coach filled with guests going to the Grand Hyatt. Some were going to wait there for transportation to the airport later in the day. Other, like Claude and I, were going to spend the night as our flight didn't leave until Sunday. We were told to go in and wait until 1pm as no rooms would be ready till then. This meant a 3-hour wait. Okay, we can do this. We found a nice comfy sofa in the bar area and set up camp.
During this time, I had to be sure we had transportation Sunday morning to the airport. Remember, I had secured us someone who said they would pick us up at 9am on Sunday morning. He also said he would send me a text to confirm. I never received a text. I called before we left the on Thursday, September 11th, and asked them again to send me a text to confirm. They agreed to do that. I never received a text. However, before we left the Hyatt that Thursday, it was clear the taxi strike was over. I felt sure we could get something for a ride to the airport when we returned. I would spend some of this time making sure we had Sunday transportation to the airport.
I went to the Grand Hyatt's transportation desk. I asked him if he could help me be sure I had some type of transportation to the airport on Sunday. He assured me he could find a car for a nice price. He also said I had the option of taking a taxi. It did not need to be prearranged. There was usually one or two waiting in front of the Hyatt for a fare. It was only 55 Euros. I was okay with transportation. I went back to our sofa and called the transportation company and told them NOT to come pick us up on Sunday. He was not happy. I assured him I was not confident in him coming and he never sent a confirmation eMail. He started to give me a list of what he had done, etc. I simply told him all that was nice but unimportant. Our agreement was I would get an text to confirm so I knew they would come. He said he tried to call but my phone didn't respond. I assured him I told them we were leaving on a cruise and would not be using our phones all that time. Bottom line, he canceled the ride. Ugh!
About 1pm, I went over to see if they had a room ready. This is where patience comes it. It seems we should have gone directly to the desk and put our names in another queue to get the first available room. Since we did not do that, the earliest possible room was now not going to be available until 3pm. Great! Back to our comfy sofa I went to share this good bit of news with my honey. The Hyatt had no facility to tell us when the room would be ready. We simply had to wait and go ask again. I did give the young many our security deposit okay so he knew we were sincere. And, he knew the room was paid for through Norwegian Cruise Lines as I paid them months ago when setting up the cruise. Patience and wait.
I finally went to the counter at 2:30pm and was able to secure a room. Yeah!! We went up to the room. Claude found a great history channel for us to watch. We both got a good shower. And we waited until time for dinner.
At the Grand Hyatt, dinner in the dining room is at 7pm. However, we knew from previous experience we could opt for something to eat in the bar at an earlier hour. We decided the bar was it for tonight. 7pm was too late to eat. We had not had anything to eat since our breakfast on the Viva. To the bar about 5pm we went. Sandi at a really good club sandwich without the egg. Claude ate chicken tacos and fries.
Back to our room we went to watch a little more of the history channel and then try to get some sleep for the long day on Sunday.
Sunday, September 21st, our alarm was set for 7:30am. We were wake before that. After, checking my cellphone, I found a message from Delta that our flight was delayed till 2pm. Goodness. They booked us on different connecting flight in Atlanta that would leave after 9pm. This was when we should have been arriving in Cincinnati. Ugh! We decided to not leave the hotel at 10am.
We checked out of the Grand Hyatt at 9:45. A taxi pulled in fairly quickly and he said he could take us to the Athens airport. Claude opened the taxi door and I got in. After we were both in the car, he said to us, "I haven't seen a husband open a door for his wife in a very long time." Wow. He was a maniac driver. I asked about the kids learning to drive in Athens. He said the learn away from the city. Then they have to learn to be aggressive when they start driving in the city. He said their are traffic laws but the police don't really give tickets for offenses so everyone drives as they please. Yike!! He said the problem was all the little bikes and scooters that weave in between cars and change lanes suddenly. It is not as bad as Cairo, but it is getting there for crazy driving. I also told him he had a smooth ride in the car and asked what kind of car it was. It was a Mercedes. He purchased it himself. Then he had to buy a license to be a taxi driver. There is a process.
The Delta counter checked us in thru Atlanta to Cincinnati. I had tried to do this with my Delta app. I had me checked in for previous flight schedule, could never get Claude checked in for that. Then, with the delay, the Delta app was not letting us do anything. It was very nice to have a friendly helpful Delta agent get it all set up. Our luggage was check in to Cincinnati, We would need to retrieve it in Atlanta to get thru customs. Then recheck it there.
Now for the very long walk to the gate. It was grueling. We found our way to the security check for the C gates. You used your boarding pass to get through it. Then on to passport check lines which again wound through many rows of stanchions in one room that fed to another room with many more rows of stanchions. We got through that and picked up our bags. When the checked our bags in scanner, mine was pulled aside. She was searching for a knife. I opened the pocket on the back, not knife. I opened the pocket on the back, no knife. I unzipped the top zipper and pulled out my purse, no knife in the backpack. Then she focused on my purse. I realized I had a nail file in one of the zipper pocket on my purse. I unzipped that pocket and pulled out the short nail file. I asked if that was what they thought was a knife. She said it was and I couldn't carry it. I assured her it was now hers. I really didn't need it that bad. In all our travels all over the world, I have never been questioned about that little nail file. Geez!
We had one other passport check and then we got to our gate. Whew. We had to wait an hour for the plane to arrive. Delta gave out bottles of water and snacks to all of us waiting for the delayed Atlanta flight. Yeah! We did not get breakfast and a snack and water sounded great. Reminded me of waiting for a flight on Delta in the Denver Airport. They brought out a wheel and you could spin it to see what snack prize you won.
The flight left on time and would be about 12-hours from Athens to Atlanta. The first half went fine. By the second half, I was getting antsy. Claude managed to watch four movies. I played on my Kindle and listened to some music. The plane arrived in Atlanta little early.
We left the plane and found our way to Global Entry. You simply stand in front of a kiosk that takes your picture. If it matches what they have on file for you, you clear customs. As we left the area, an customs agent was checking our picture again with what the kiosk sent her. She would say our names and then we acknowledged it was us and we went on our way to find our luggage.
We found both bags. They were very slow coming down the turn style. But we had them both and we were grateful. A man at the door was waiting to take the bags and forward them to the Cincinnati flight.
Now, to find the gate. Atlanta is a pretty big airport. Claude had looked at the airport map on our monitors while we were flying. We knew that the International Flights had their own terminal at the farthest end of the airport. There is a LONG central walkway from one end of the airport to the other with knew that the rows of gates branched off from that in alphabetic order. Our gate was the next to last one on the opposite end of the airport. Follow the signs, follow the signs. Then, a split in the signs with the same directions on both sides of the split. One part went down a escalator. The other part went to the side of that and was broad and flat. What to do. No time to waste. Claude opted for the flat, straight path. About that time someone that appeared to be in some kind of a uniform walked past me. I asked her if she worked in the airport. She said she did. I asked her how to get to our gate. She said to use the elevator and take the 'train'!! I called out loudly for Claude to come back. We went down a very steep escalator to the train and rode in to the far end where our gate was located.
We did find our gate and had only a few minutes to wait before boarding began. The flight to Cincinnati was only an hour. We had an exit row seat which gave us lots of room. We both tried to take a quick nap. Airplane sleep is not great sleep but a little can go a long way.
Our luggage was in Cincinnati, the shuttle bus was waiting for us and got us right to the Jeep. Again, another maniac driver. Claude drove to the exit and paid a life's ransom to get out of the parking lot and we were off to our home. We got home and were in bed by 12:30am. Whew!!
I am grateful we got to take this trip. We didn't fall. We did all the things we signed up to do except for the Agora in Athens. We saw and learned a lot. We enjoyed time on the Viva the way we like to cruise, very low key. Greece is an interesting place to visit. It is beautiful and the people and culture are interesting. It was great to have a bit of Turkey thrown in the mix. I was so happy to see things I had read and learned about. Before the trip, I read a book on the history of Greece, a book about Greek mythology, Homers books the Iliad and the Odyssey. I tried to learn some Greek using Duolingo. I was as prepared as I could be to enjoy this country. And, I did enjoy the trip. However, at the end of this trip, I told Claude I loved the trip but this was the first country I felt like I didn't care if I returned. Wouldn't trade the experience we had for anything, but it is a one-and-done for me.
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